Artificial Flowers

Sometimes finding employment requires more than a high school diploma. So through a variety of vocational courses and life-skills training, Compassion-sponsored young people learn practical ways to make employment, and ultimately financial stability, a reality. Recently, POC funds made it possible for the parents of sponsored children at Charoen Krung Maitrichit Scholarship Project (TH-502) in Bangkok, Thailand, to receive some of that training as well.

About 40 families at the project took part in the training, which taught them how to make artificial flowers. POC helped the project rent training space, purchase materials, and hire qualified teachers. In addition, through connections in the area, project workers have been able to contact buyers - some as far away as the United States - interested in purchasing the artificial flowers on an ongoing basis.

So far, 14 families have significantly increased their monthly income through artificial flower sales, and two more sponsored young people have begun to run their own artificial flower-making businesses. Also, project staff report that, as a result of these training courses, two parents became Christians and five others expressed interest in attending a Bible study. Their interest has led to a newly formed study that currently meets every other Saturday.

In addition to all the benefits for the families who took part in this first artificial flower-making course, several project workers joined in the training, so that they might be able to teach others how to make artificial flowers in the future. Since this first venture has been so successful, and the project now owns most of the equipment needed for this enterprise, the staff want to continue teaching this useful skill to sponsored children and interested adults in the future.